Cardboard

I didn't notice it in my critique. I was the proud pet project for my community college "Advanced" painting teacher. During the last critique of the semester I had proudly displayed my schizophrenic showcase. A large landscape, a bad attempt at the fusion of graffiti and surrealism, my Barnett Newman impressions and an attempt to make my father's photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge "abstract."

Golden Gate Bridge acrylic on cardboard 2010 18x24

The painting was based on the premise that a picture of something so widely recognized (Such as the photo my father took of the Golden Gate Bridge) could be reinterpreted infinitely due to human individuality. I took the background and turned it on its left. I took the bridge and reconstructed it with my new-found exploration of the New York School.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco digital photograph 2009

The first question my teacher asked of the class was "How did you feel about this painting being on cardboard?"

The answers were varied with most people not caring to one person asking why would I paint on something that was going to deteriorate quickly. My response was "I thought that the idea of a painting that had a similiar limited lifetime to the artist who did it was a kind of promotion of the worker and not the work. This is because I feel that most artists struggle to make a living and sometimes only get successful after they die."

It was a bullshit off the cuff answer, but it sounded nice at the time. The truth really was that I saw a square flat surface and wanted to paint on it. Also I was unable to stretch my own canvases at the time. Since I began painting I have painted on canvas, panel, cardboard, books, seats of chairs anything I could apply gesso to.. I didn't really think to much about the long term effects because I figured if I gessoed the surface it should last as long as it was supposed to.

The next painting I did on cardboard, I decided to explore the texture and let it show through the paint. I did a light gesso, and watered down my paints so that the ripples in the cardboard would be visible. I thought of this as having a similiar effect to the painters who apply thick applications of paint and proceed to remove or add more creating depth and texture.

Party Acrylic on Cardboard 2010 48x52

The painting was meant to be done in a stylistic manner rather than a realistic approach because I did not want to focus too much on detail of the subject but wanted to rely on the cardboard to give depth and dimension. A while after I finished the piece someone was looking to purchase a painting of mine and saw this one, exclaiming that they liked how it was painted. When they picked it up and noticed it was cardboard, disappointment covered their face. I tried to explain how the cardboard and its surface was part of the reason she liked the painting but the fact that it was cardboard was too much for her to overlook. It did not seem like it was worth purchasing to her if it was so fragile.

After that incident I decided to use cardboard as more of a preliminary painting for a while rather than a finished product. I focused more on canvas or covered my cardboard edges and framed them, not telling people what it was painted on. I noticed that if I did not announce the painting being on cardboard, it wasn't immediately noticeable and the viewer respected it more as a finished work. This was not an economic choice, I did not want to rip potential buyers off. I just thought that the painting itself was more important than what it was painted on or even how it was painted. I was going through a conceptual phase that overshadowed any wanting to do traditional painting of oil on canvas. I was using watercolor and acrylic next to colored pencil and charcoal. The end product was the important thing and if that meant withholding information about what the work was painted on then so be it.

Opposites Attract Acrylic and charcoal on cardboard 2011 48x52

Caught up in the process, I returned to not thinking about the appearance of cardboard or what it meant to people who saw paintings on it. Around the same time I returned to college to finish my art degree and resumed using cardboard, again trying to experiment with the texture of the surface with watered down paints. Part of my process involves constantly going backwards and re-exploring techniques and experiments that I have done in the past. A painting assignment that I had was one in which I felt the freedom to do that cardboard exploration.

Conversations with a homeless man Acrylic and painters tape on cardboard 2011 22x22

The subject matter was about a homeless man I met in a park who was drinking beer and talking to me about different things such as the economy and his sister disowning him. I thought cardboard would be a great platform for this narrative and thought my conceptional line of thinking would overshadow any questions as to why I painted on a flimsy non-archival surface. Again I was wrong and the only people that had opinions on my critique were focused on the cardboard and critical of the usage of it. I felt myself stuck at a crossroads again. I had a philosophy that art could come from anywhere and be done on anything including cardboard. At the same time, I felt like I was getting the reputation of being "Mr. Cardboard," and not doing a good job of backing up my aesthetic decisions. I felt that people in critiques were treating me as if I was cheap and unable to afford anything other than that free material at the back of Safeway and then trying to pass it off as conceptual, like I was a fake artist!

Dia De los Muertes Acrylic and ink on cardboard 2009-2011 18x24

Around that same time I had a piece accepted in a show. The piece was on cardboard and it was framed (Shown above.) When I explained that it was done on cardboard people I talked to were surprised. I decided to revert to my old way of thinking in which I just wanted to paint on any surface. If cardboard was suitable for my idea then I would use cardboard. If I felt a canvas was needed I would buy or stretch a canvas. There are many benefits to painting on cardboard that I have found and are strong enough reasons for me to continue to use it even after I have learned to stretch my own canvases:

1. Its cheap. I don't want to be known as Mr. cheapskate/cardboard, but as a starting artist it is hard to buy materials when you barely make enough to pay your monthly bills. Plus grocery  and retail stores usually have no problem giving it away.

2. Because its cheap I become more productive. I love to paint and I am frenzied with my ideas. I jump from style to style constantly and produce a lot of work in the meantime. If I were to transfer my ideas to only stretched canvas and panels, I would not be able to produce as many paintings as I do now.

3. Conceptually it can say a lot. Painting certain things on cardboard could give deeper meaning to the painting (such as my homeless man on a cardboard surface). I like to paint abstract paintings on cardboard to disregard the elitist stigma a difficult painting has to a common person (by avoiding the canvas and size) while still promoting experimentation and expression. It also helps explain my position on art being more important than how it is presented. I have been part of a jury show and have seen art being chosen more for its frame and or sturdiness rather than its content. Why should the surface dictate the importance when the work can overcome the premeditated barriers given to it.

4. Cardboard is more flexible. Now this is a avenue that I am slowly exploring but trying to develop further. When I stretch a canvas, it is usually square or rectangular. If it isn't, then I did something wrong with the stretcher bars. I realized that I have more freedom with the shape of cardboard. This does not mean simply that I can make more accurate right angles, but can actually create a shape that would be more difficult with canvas and stretchers.

It's a Penis! acrylic, ink, glitter, charcoal, marker, colored pencil 2012  16x20

5.  It's being green (kind of). I must admit it is hard to be a painter while attempting to promote a greener earth. While painting on cardboard is not exactly environmentally the best option, it is much easier on my conscience to use cardboard that would have been disposed and instead transform it into an art work. People gladly give me cardboard they feel they are going to waste and find it funny that I use it to paint on.

Bridge # 5 Atmosphere (Suicides) 2012 in progress...

Right now I am working to create a marriage of the two experiments in cardboard that I have been  developing. I am creating work that I feel confident enough could become a good painting on canvas but I am using cardboard. I am stretching the usage of the cardboard and creating depth in a painting that is a representation of a landscape. I am doing this by not just cutting right angles but shaping the cardboard in a similar manner to Matisse in his last years when he was unable to physically paint. Then I am putting cardboard on top of cardboard in layers giving a sculptural element to the piece. When I am finished I plan to create a frame for each work and by not painting the edges I am forcing the viewer to accept the framed cardboard as work worthy of being a final piece, not a cardboard preliminary work meant to transfer to canvas.
I will continue to paint on cardboard, canvas, wood and anything I can get my hands on. What I paint on and what I paint can sometimes be equally important or completely oblivious to each other depending on my final conception. As a young artist I enjoy finding my philosophical path running parallel to my work path which is helping me develop a personal identity within my work.